He urged the Islamic thinkers, economists and bankers to come forward to outline such a guideline.
Standard Chartered Bank has launched its new Islamic banking brand, Saadiq, offering a range of Shariah-compliant financial solutions.

The Bahrain-based Islamic banking conglomerate, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), said Saturday that it had received Syrian approval to establish a subsidiary bank with a capital of 100 million dollars.

The bank, which will be known as Al Baraka Bank-Syria, will provide full Islamic banking products and services for both private individuals and companies through a network of branches in Syria's main cities.

Islamic banking and finance is likely to continue growing in the Asia Pacific region, but the real test of its sustainability will be how the system reacts to a major financial crisis, a report said Thursday.

The industry is set to develop its own identity separate from conventional banking as new Islamic financial products are rolled out, said the report by Financial Insights, a company under market research and analysis firm International Data Corp (IDC).

Islamic banking has now become part of the country's mainstream financial system and has the potential to generate the country's economic growth, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In a written reply to Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri (BN-Kudat) in the Dewan Rakyat, the prime minister said Islamic banking has cornered 12.2% of the domestic financial market with assets totalling RM133 billion. In the Takaful sector, it has cornered 6.1% of the market with assets worth RM6.9 billion.

The international Centre for education in Islamic Finance or INCEIF and the Tadhamon international Islamic Bank co-organized a Forum entitled The Islamic Financial Services industry: The Next Big Wave. The Forum, held at the Movenpick Hotel, was well attended by about 100 guests comprising staff of the Central Bank of Yemen, Islamic and conventional banks, insurance companies, scholars and members from the University fraternity in Sana’a.

Qatar Islamic Bank is planning the first securitisation by a bank in the Middle East.

Qatar’s largest Islamic bank and the Gulf’s fourth largest Islamic lender by market value has hired Kuwait-based Islamic investment bank Rasameel Structured Finance Company and an international investment bank, which it did not name, to advise on the deal.

Islamic financial instruments are fast becoming the preferred choice for non-Muslims not only as commercially viable alternatives but also in terms of product, cost and efficiency.

John Zinkin, the chief executive officer of the Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC), also said that although the Islamic capital market has grown rapidly, it has not yet to realise its full potential.